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Extensibility in iOS 8: All you need to Know

Extensibility is an upcoming iOS 8 Feature from Apple will completely transform how we interact with iOS Apps. It’s a giant step in the right direction for Apple . Extensibility will both remove friction and empower preference, letting users take their favorite app’s killer feature and use it from within another app.

Apple calls it Extensibility, and it basically allows your apps to share both information and functionality with each other, which means less time spent switching between apps.

Let’s say you have a favorite app for editing your photos, such as Adobe Photoshop Express. Before Extensibility, you would need to be inside Photoshop Express in order to use its editing tools. But with Extensibility, you’ll be able to access those same editing tools right from within Apple’s native Photos app. The editing tools from Photoshop Express would act as the “extension” in this case, and the Photos app would then have access to that extension, allowing you to take advantage of Photoshop Express’ unique features and functionality even from within outside apps.

how does it work?

There are different types of extensions depending on how and where they will share information with other apps. Apple wants to prevent apps from simply having full access to all of the information in your other apps, so extensions are focused on particular functions and tasks, such as Share, Action, and Photo Editing.

It’s important to note that an app won’t be able to randomly request important info from another app without your consent. You have complete control over when an app makes a request to use an extension, meaning an app can’t request your PayPal password from 1Password unless you ask it to.

Besides being secure, Extensibility means more information at your fingertips, and faster.

Apple, for example, is allowing extensions to plug directly into your iPhone’s Notification Center, where it will act as a widget.

At its WWDC conference in June, Apple highlighted how an eBay extension would allow you to keep track of auctions from within Notification Center. And since extensions can also include actions, you’re even able to place a bid without opening the app.

Say you’re browsing the internet using Safari. With Extensibility, you’ll be able to tap the image, select which social media website or app you’d like to share the picture with, and you’re done.

Extensibility even extends to core Apple software, such as its keyboard. If another app has a keyboard that you like better than Apple’s, they simply have to enable a keyboard extension to give users the ability to replace Apple’s keyboard with their own.